Peter Fishman, left, chair of Voices of Hope, and Alan Berkowitz.

Peter Fishman, chair of Voices of Hope, was presented with the organization’s Chesed Award by Alan Berkowitz (right) at the Second Annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day held recently at The Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford. Berkowitz chaired the Sunday brunch event that was sponsored by Voices of Hope, a group made up of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors living in Connecticut whose mission is to foster a culture of courage against hate, bigotry, and inhumanity.  A division of the Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut (JFACT), recently launched its website at www.ctvoicesofhope.org.  Close to 100 survivors and their families – including the great-grandchildren of survivors — attended the brunch, where they heard Holocaust music sung by Cantor Sanford Cohn and Hannah Berkowitz.  Among the afternoon’s speakers were Joan Margolis of Jewish Family Services who also serves as the Connecticut liaison to the Claims Conference, and Bob Fishman, executive director of JFACT, who spoke about the U.N. designation of International Holocaust Remembrance Day as Jan. 27 — the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest death camp.
Photo credit: Robert Tellar, president of Emanuel Brotherhood